The Ravens followed an old pattern to hire the seventh defensive coordinator in franchise history.
Continuing the organization’s long-held practice of promoting from within, head coach John Harbaugh announced linebackers coach Don “Wink” Martindale would replace retired defensive coordinator Dean Pees. He is the sixth consecutive Ravens defensive coordinator to be an internal promotion with Marvin Lewis being the only outside hire that arrived for the team’s inaugural 1996 season.
Hired to coach the inside linebackers in 2012 and promoted to linebackers coach in 2016, Martindale is held in very high regard by his players and has helped develop the likes of three-time Pro Bowl selection C.J. Mosley and Matthew Judon as well as former undrafted free agents Zachary Orr and Patrick Onwuasor. The 54-year-old was considered the top in-house candidate to replace Pees, but the delay in promoting him lead many to believe he wasn’t the top choice.
“Wink has earned the promotion to defensive coordinator,” Harbaugh said in a statement. “His aggressive mentality will serve to take our defense to new levels. He is obviously respected by players, many of whom have already benefited from his direct coaching at the linebacker position. He knows the ins and outs of what we have been about on defense and has been an important contributor to our success on that side of the ball.”
The announcement was met with a lukewarm response from those fans wanting the organization to bring back Chuck Pagano, who served as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator in 2011 before being hired as the head coach in Indianapolis. The Ravens had been interested in a reunion with Pagano, but he had two years remaining on his contract with the Colts and may ultimately elect to take some time off from coaching after being fired last week.
Martindale served as the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos in 2010, but it was a forgettable year as Pro Bowl defensive end Elvis Dumervil missed the entire season with a pectoral injury and the unit finished last in total yards and points allowed. He was dismissed after that season and hired a year later by Harbaugh.
An internal hire is rarely an exciting one, but Martindale has roots with the Ryan family and coached with former Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan at the University of Cincinnati from 1996-97 and with Rob Ryan in Oakland from 2004-08. It’s also worth noting that the popular Pagano was an internal Ravens hire who replaced Greg Mattison, who wasn’t exactly a popular defensive coordinator in the eyes of many Ravens fans.
Harbaugh also named Mike Macdonald to take Martindale’s place as the linebackers coach. The 30-year-old has been with the Ravens since 2014 and served as the defensive backs coach this past season.
“Mike is one of the rising coaching standouts in the NFL, and he has earned the respect in the locker room and in the coaching room,” Harbaugh said. “We’re excited to see what he’ll do when he coaches our linebackers.”
Baltimore promoted Sterling Lucas to the role of defensive quality control after he most recently served as administrative assistant for the defense.
